Hello amazing readers! This is a rather old story of mine that I finished a long time ago on my old slower laptop that I finally got back on a usb drive tonight after much laboring over said retired laptop! It's basically a story that deals only with the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime and that begins just before Hughes's death. Basically, between when he found out the information about Juliet Douglas/Sloth and when Envy took on the form of his wife and shot him. I've changed a few things about the episode: A-Roy had come to Central for "business" with some people, along with Riza. B-Hughes didn't have an encounter with Lust where she slashed him and "Maria Ross" came up to save him. He went straight from telling Cheska to put everything back where it was originally to where this chapter starts, ok?

So, about this story. This is a very different take on Roy Mustang. Kind of like a behind the scenes view, or basically the events of the show plus many that I've added in to the story from his point of view (so you FMA fans may encounter a LOT of lines and scenes that you're familiar with. Only, with a different perspective to them). His history deviates greatly from the original script in this story in a rather major way. This story does get gory, just a fair warning. So don't like, don't read. I hope you all enjoy this story! I'm editing it as I post it, but I've already written all of it, so hopefully I can update it here regularly!

So, without further ado, please read!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN FULL METAL ALCHEMIST OR ITS ORIGINAL CHARACTERS, SCENES, LINES,OR SCRIPT! I ONLY OWN ROY MUSTANG, MY OWN OCS IN THIS STORY, AND HIS HISTORY IN THIS STORY AND ANY OF THE PLOT THAT BELONGS SOLELY TO MY MIND! I DON'T SEEK TO PROFIT FROM THIS WORK OF FICTION!

"Two Drinks Between Old Friends"

Roy frowned, the ice cubes in his glass of alcohol clinking around inside it, the alchemist's black bangs moving in front of his face as he sat at the bar. He didn't care too much for alcohol, but then, he didn't care too much about other parts of his life either. . .he sighed, and brought the glass to his pale lips, eyes closed, and tilted his head back, his bangs moving away from his face as he did so, as the Mustang drank his fill. Once the glass was finally drained, Roy let an ice cube slip into his mouth, and bringing the glass from his lips as he lowered his head, he began to crunch noisily on the cube, putting the glass back down on the table with a small thump, his commotion disturbing the young couple at the end of the bar, the red headed girl quickly becoming more and more undressed by the man that was beside her. This was one of Amestris's dirtiest, most "adult" bars. The kind that would make Grandmothers have a heart attack and that teens dreamed of entering. It wasn't Roy's favorite place, but it was close to his home, and he really didn't think he'd be good company for any of his other haunts.

So, Roy sighed, glancing at the couple from behind his bangs, crunching noisily on the ice, and then his eyes moved to the man's nether regions, which were already out of his pants. He wondered vaguely if they'd end up having intercourse right at the bar. Wouldn't surprise him . . . wouldn't be the first time at this pub. . . He clenched his fist slightly, watching the penis pulse as it hardened in the warm night air, the head already leaking fluid . . . "Roy?" Hughes's voice cut through the air like one of the man's knives. Roy's head jerked up out of the almost hypnotic gaze the couple had seemed to hold him in and he whipped his head around as he twisted in the chair to face the man who had just walked up to him, gazing up at Hughes, as the slightly older man gazed down at his longtime friend sympathetically.

Roy's long sleeve blue button down shirt that he wore normally crisp and clean underneath his militant uniform had a few buttons open near the top, and it was slightly ruffled. Roy's uniform jacket was fully unbuttoned and simply hung on his frame, and his eyes had bags under them. It was late at night, and it was obvious to Hughes that Roy had fallen asleep at his office, had had his normal nightmares, and, not wanting to return to said nightmares, had come here to drink, and to meet Hughes as they'd already planned.

"Hey . . ." Hughes said, eyes softening behind his glasses, reaching out a hand and pulling Roy's bangs back a little against the top of Roy's head, pushing back a little more against Roy's forehead and causing Roy to tilt his own head back, so that Roy up at him with empty black onyx eyes, "You alright?" he whispered. Roy blinked, and to someone who didn't know him as well as Hughes did, his eyes would hold no emotion. But Hughes knew him too well for that. He saw that hidden pain behind Roy's dead onyx eyes, and his heart went out to the man before him. He was the only good soul who knew of Roy's dark secret, of the skeletons in Roy's closet that loved to torment his friend. And it pained him to know that Roy couldn't do anything about it. Hughes had never before come up against a problem that couldn't be solved. And a part of him refused to believe that there was no way out of Roy's current predicament. He just hadn't found the answer to Roy's problem . . . yet.

Roy sighed, hopelessness fully displayed in his body as the moans from the woman and the grunts of the man as the couple in fact began to have sex against the counter faded from his hearing. They were no longer his focus . . . Roy gulped and then whispered hoarsely to Hughes, "Did you bring it?" Hughes smiled, and ruffled Roy's hair, sliding his hand further along Mustang's head and cupping it as he did so, "Yeah, buddy. Yeah, I got them. But we'll get there later. I got something I gotta tell ya first. . . Hey bartender?" he called, and the greasy, gross looking man with almost no teeth walked up in his grimy clothes as he cleaned a dirty glass with an even dirtier cloth, murky brown eyes focusing on Hughes who smiled despite the man's appearance. Roy gazed up at Hughes in silent admiration. Hughes could smile in spite of anything it seemed. He always found a way. Roy envied that about his friend. "Two Budweisers." Hughes ordered for them, "On me," he reached into his pocket and pulled out the required money, and put it on the bar's dirty surface, "Keep whatever change there is."

Moments later, Roy sighed, gripping the neck of the beer bottle as he tilted his head back and gulped some of the amber liquid down, his onyx eyes sliding over to gaze at Hughes who had only taken one sip of his drink and was putting a file in front of Roy. Roy blinked, put the bottle down on the counter, and leaned forward, gripping the file in his hands and opening it, "What is it?"

"It's about Juliet Douglas," Hughes muttered, leaning forward, blinking, and speaking in hushed tones as if those in the bar were spies for his enemies. Roy frowned, arching an eyebrow and moving his eyes to Hughes, "You mean the Fuhrer's secretary? No offense, but she's a tad bit old for me," he muttered, and flopped the file down on the bar lazily, taking another swig of his drink before turning to Hughes and setting the bottle back down, "Honestly, Hughes, you must be running out of women for me if you're resulting to someone that old." Hughes nodded, "Yeah, I'll give you that. She's super old. Old enough to be dead. I mean seriously, she ought to be dead." He turned and took a swig of his beer.

Roy frowned, leaned forward, and opened the folder again to look at the picture of Douglas within before he turned to Hughes, "You suck at using small talk to get to your point Hughes, you know that? You gotta at least make some sense with your small talk. She can't be more than forty," he pointed out, and then tilted his head back again, drinking some more beer, eyes fluttered closed. "Yeah, well, I think I'm willing to stretch the rules of small talk cover up. . . when the military has already stretched her files to their limits . . ." Roy opened his eyes and darted them over to Hughes, even more of the pain Hughes had seen before entering the onyx eyed man's gaze. Hughes frowned and leaned forward, "Here's what I mean Roy. . ." he darted his eyes around the bar before turning back to Roy and hissing in the quietest tone he could use to communicate with the alchemist, "I mean that the military has her as dead in their records . . . twice. . ."

Roy's head jerked down and away from the folder's contents, as he spewed out his mouthful of beer onto the wooden floor of the bar, coughing and sputtering in surprise at Hughes's words. Out of all the things he'd been expecting the man to say, that had been far from his expectations. Once he'd recovered mostly, he turned his head to Hughes, blinking and gulping at the man in surprise and worry, some tears in his eyes from where he'd choked on some beer in his shock, "C-come again?" Hughes reached into the messenger bag at his side, and pulled out a file for Roy to look at. Roy leaned forward and gazed at it, and he sighed, picking it up and holding it in his hands, gazing at the label on it sadly. "This is a file about the Ishbalan War," Roy murmured in a solemn tone. "Yeah, now check out who started it," Hughes muttered, pointing to the appropriate area for the information on a sheet of paper within the folder after he pushed the file folder open. Roy's eyes darted to the spot on the page, following Hughes's finger. When he read over the words there, he gasped, and his hands shook, as he gazed in disbelief at the name, "Douglas. . ." Hughes nodded, "Right. It says she started the war. By shooting an Ishbalan kid. Supposedly, she was detained and killed for her actions, as it says in this official statement of execution," he said, and reached over into his messenger bag before gripping another file folder and sliding it to sit in front of Mustang on the bar. Roy blinked down at the folder and flipped it open, gazing at the Fuhrer's signature at the bottom of the page. His shaking hands dropped the file for Douglas on top of that file as fear and worry took over his mind. "Here bud, drink. Don't cause a scene," Hughes whispered, pushing the beer bottle into Roy's hands. Roy gripped it like a lifeline and brought the mouth of the bottle shakily to his lips.

Finally, Roy calmed enough and he turned to Hughes again, lowering the bottle and clearing his throat, "So you uh . . . you mentioned she was 'dead' twice? What about the second time? How'd that happen?" Hughes turned to his bag and pulled out another folder. If the situation wasn't so grave, Roy'd joke about the man's obsession with keeping things separated into so many. But seeing as the situation was quite serious, he held in the tease. "Here's her other death recording," Hughes sighed, and turning, flopped the folder open in front of Roy, "From over fifty years ago." Roy's hands began to shake again as the fear and anxiety wave that came with that revelation rolled over him, and the beer bottle slipped from his hands and shattered on the floor. After receiving a dark look from the barkeeper, Roy licked his lips nervously and turned to Hughes, his hands hanging loosely over his thighs and in his lap. "And . . . what do you mean by . . . all . . . of th-this research?" he whispered, dreading the answer he knew would come.

"That Juliet Douglas is a homunculus, Roy," Hughes hissed, eyes narrowed and focused on Roy, whose own eyes widened in fear. Turning, Roy let out a shuddering breath and leaned over the counter of the bar, running a shaking hand through his hair, staring at the grains of wood beneath his face, "B-but . . . but that means that the government has been run by homunculi for . . ." "Far too long," Hughes said softly, and put an arm around Roy's back, giving his other shoulder a tentative squeeze, as the alchemist continued to shake from shock. Hughes frowned after a few moments of no response from Roy, and decided to try to bring Roy back to reality a bit more intently. So, he readjusted his grip on Roy's other shoulder and squeezed it a bit more, whispering, "Roy . . . Roy, are you still with me? I swear, if you are having a panic attack, you're . . . you're on your own, bud. I mean, I'll stay with you, but I don't know how to help with that . . ." Roy shuddered and leaned back a little, eyes closed tightly,"Is. . .is . . ." he licked his lips nervously. Hughes turned and reaching forward, gripped Roy's old glass, and brought it to the alchemist's lips, "Chew on some ice. It'll make you calm down a bit more." Roy sighed and opening his lips, let a cube of ice slide through them and into his mouth, and crunched on it before swallowing on its smaller pieces. Then turned to Hughes, blinking at him, "Is there something . . . something else? That you want to t-t-t-tell me?" he whispered, hands shaking even more violently with each word. he clasped his right hand in his left and tried to hold them as still as possible beneath the counter.

Hughes gazed sympathetically at his friend. Knowing that what he was about to say wasn't going to make Roy feel very much better. But he had to say it all. Before he lost his nerve. "Yes. Roy, this explains so much. The ingredients to the stone, as you've said, are thousands of human lives! You knew that was why Fuhrer Bradley was so destructive in his political and military actions already. And if this fact about Douglas is true, not only did the homunculi profit from the wars, they started them!" Hughes said, shaking Roy's other shoulder a little more for emphasis. Roy frowned at him, blinking, not encouraging him to go on, but not discouraging him. Hughes chose to press onward with what he had to say, "And the warehouse the Elrics were found in. . . I'd bet you anything that the homunculi were behind that operation too! You know how we never did find the three homunculi those two brothers described? We also never could find three soldiers who were there when we raided the laboratory!" the other man paused to take in a deep breath.

Roy frowned, and turned his head fully to Hughes in the pause that followed the man's words, "What are you talking about? I never heard that there were three soldiers who. . ." "I swear Roy, three people in army uniforms passed by me in that warehouse, before the two Elric brothers were moved out. They walked right past 'Juliet Douglas' and she saluted them! At first, I was like, 'Okay,' you know? I was determined to get to the bottom of things! But what if . . . what if those were the three homunculi? The three that Edward encountered? That would all make sense now! And those three soldiers weren't seen at all past that gate!" he confirmed, nodding firmly, "I checked the records!"

Roy frowned, and looked down at the grain of wood in the counter top, "They would have had to kill three soldiers . . . or taken military clothes . . . from inside the prison. If she didn't send any in ahead of you guys. . ." Hughes frowned solemnly, "So you agree with me? You think the homunculi were behind that too?" Roy turned to him, nodding firmly, eyes going colder than Hughes had ever seen them, "Dante is only interested in using the stone for her own purposes," Roy muttered in an icy tone full of venom. He then turned to gaze at the bar again, his hands in fists beneath the table, his nails biting into his skin, "Just like 'Fuhrer Bradley'. And Ed reported that they were trying to make a stone using him and the other prisoners. When Ed thwarted that plan, Dante was halted, but it would make sense for the homunculi to merely regroup . . . by getting out of the prison cleanly, using soldier uniforms."

"Then you know what we must do. Since they're this deep in the military," Hughes muttered, eyes full of fury. Roy turned to him, already knowing the answer to his unasked question of what Hughes meant. And dreading what Hughes would say. "We must take down the homunculi! Before they pull another stunt and endanger or harm more people!" Hughes said firmly, punching one palm with his fist, "Then, without her bodyguards, Dante will be defenseless! Then if we take her down, it'll all be over! Amestris will be safe! WE'LL ALL BE SAFE!" Roy frowned, "But how many homunculi are there, really? How many are we truly up against? We have five in our knowledge right now," he held up his hand, in a fist, then flicked out a finger as he listed each one of them, "The shape shifter, the swordswoman, the eater, Douglas, and . . . Bradley," he muttered, a sadness going over his gaze at the last name, then put the hand down, laying it over the files on the countertop, sighing, "There could be many more for all I know. Bradley and Dante don't tell me anything."

"But if we take down those five," Hughes mused, stroking his stubble of hair on his chin thoughtfully, gazing at the ceiling, "We might still be able to take down Dante." Roy frowned at the man, "There's still a problem with even that plan, Maes. Don't you remember what it takes to ultimately kill a homunculus?" Hughes blinked at him, frowning. Clearly having forgotten that detail in his excitement. Roy sighed, rolling his eyes, "A piece of the human that died. I have no idea where the skull is, and how are we supposed to know which deceased humans the other four homunculi, and let's not forget that there might be more, were supposed to take on?" Hughes narrowed his eyes at Roy, "You better not be making excuses so that you don't have to face . . ." Roy snarled, slamming the palm into the bar counter top and shooting up to stand over Hughes, glaring at the man with fury and pain in his face, "I'M NOT! YOU THINK I WANT TO HAVE THIS HORRIBLE LIFE?! HOW DARE YOU INSINUATE THAT I WOULDN'T DO WHATEVER'S NECESSARY TO BRING THIS NIGHTMARE TO AN END?!" Many heads in the bar turned to look at him, even those of the couple in the corner.

Roy leaned forward, his onyx eyes alight with fury, his nose merely inches from Hughes's, and grabbed Hughes's collar of his shirt, "Believe me, Hughes. Nothing would please me more than to take down Bradley, Douglas, how ever many of those demons there are, and that bitch of a woman Dante. But be reasonable! The only reason I, or anyone I'm close to, for that matter, are still alive, is because I have something that Bradley wants! If we only take down a few, the others will only want attack with a vengeance! And if I manage to destroy the Fuhrer, do you think they would hesitate?! They don't need me without him!" he snapped, then grew quiet again, and turned to gaze at the grain of wood in the bar again, a sadness and solemnness falling over him as he let two hot tears bead up I his eyes, his body slumping, "Face it, Hughes. What can I do?" he whispered as he sat back on the bar stool, tears streaming freely now from his eyes. Turning, he put his head to the wood, arms wrapped around his head. Soon his body was racking with his silent sobs as he wept in his sadness, choking out, "What can any of us do?" Hughes sighed, and rested a hand on Roy's back, knowing that the man was only being reasonable and that he had thought of things that Hughes hadn't thought of. All Roy said was true. Right now, they couldn't do anything . . . none of them could do anything to stop the homunculi. So, Maes sat silently and stroked Roy's back, letting his longtime friend get it all of his tears of despair out of his system.

After Roy's sobbed died down a little, Maes leaned forward, and placed two oblong pills with a black alchemical symbol on the sides, the pills themselves being off white in color, in front of Roy's arms. The man then quietly and moved his bottle of Bud over towards Roy some more, "What can any of us do? Well, I can't speak for everyone, but I can tell you what I can do. What I will do. I can keep you alive. While we figure out how to take them down. And if that means satisfying Fuhrer Bradley for now, we'll just have to put up with that plan. You'll have to put up with it. Ok? You've got to be brave for just a little longer, Hokshila . . ." Roy sniffed, lifting his head at Hughes's final words, and gripping the pills, threw his head back, throwing both of the horrid tasting things into his mouth before downing them with the beer. Once the medicine was swallowed and he began to feel the pills take effect Roy turned to Hughes, "A gift from our friend?" Hughes nodded, smiling weakly, "An alchemist we can trust."

Moments later, Roy walked out of the bar wearing his military navy blue trenchcoat, hands shoved into his pockets as he gazed at the pavement. Hughes tilted his head back, sighing and gazing up at the stars, his own trenchcoat around his body keeping him warm, "Hey, wanna come to my place tonight? Elysia and Gracia are dying to see you. And I wouldn't mind having you over for the evening. I still got your duffel bag over there. You know the one we use for emergency clothes?" he whispered, glancing at Roy and noting how Roy tensed at the mention of Hughes's kid. Hughes knew that Roy had nothing against Elysia. It was all children that got him to tense like that. Hughes understood why though, so it made sense to him, at least.

"No, thanks," Roy muttered, "Damn where did I park that car?" he whispered, deliberately changing the subject as he pulled out his keys. Finding his black car, he walked briskly towards it, pulling out his keys as he went, "Do the homunculi and your team know that you've figured that out? About Douglas?" he whispered. Hughes hurried up to Roy to continue their conversation in hushed tones. "Not sure," Hughes muttered, "Why do you ask? About my team, I mean?" Roy opened his own car door, and turned, focusing on Hughes with a serious look, his mouth set in a single frown line, "Because it needs to stay that way," he hissed, eyes narrowing a little and flaring up in intensity. He held up a finger and pointed at Hughes, jabbing at the man's chest, intent on protecting the man and his team as much as possible, "As long as you're sure that they don't know, take your team. By that I mean Maria Ross, Brock, everyone. You take them and leave Central Station with them first thing tomorrow morning. Send them off to random locations, even Shesca. Then you take Elysia and Gracia leave the country. So they can't get to you. I'll get in contact with you as soon as possible Hughes. I swear." he muttered, and turning, got in, starting the car, "I'll be at the train station at 11:00 tomorrow morning to see you off, Maes," he whispered, pushing the pain he knew he'd feel at having to say goodbye to Hughes down in order to save the man. Hughes frowned, "Will you be okay on your own?" Roy closed his door, rolling down his window, and gazed up at Hughes, blinking, "I'll have to be. I won't let you get hurt, Hughes. . ." he cracked a week smile, tears shining in his eyes, "See you tomorrow?" the Colonel asked, holding up a hand.

Hughes smiled weakly back, tears in his own eyes, knowing that Roy had his best interests in mind. He was grateful for such a loyal friend. Despite Roy's own issues, he still took care of Hughes. He reached down and high fived Roy, "Yeah, man. Seeya." With that, Roy smiled, turned up his window, and cast one last look at his friend before he turned and drove away, never to see his friend alive again. Hughes smiled weakly watching Roy drive away, then turned, and stared at Maria Ross standing before him. She smiled weakly, "I was in the neighborhood and saw you sir. Do you have a car?" Hughes frowned, and then his eye darted over to her left eye. And he smirked, "Naw . . . too bad huh? Gonna call Gracia to come pick me up at the nearest payphone." he walked right on past Ross. "I'll escort you," Ross said, a bit too quickly. Hughes chuckled, "I'm sure you will. . ." And I'll tell Gracia and Elysia to leave immediately. And hopefully take you down in the process, Homunculus.

A/N: SO WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK! PLEASE REVIEW! I FEED THEM TO MY PLOT BUNNIES TO KEEP THEM ALIVE!